The present invention is directed, in general, to electronics packaging and, more specifically, to a hermetic package for contact-sensitive electronic devices and methods of manufacturing such package.
Electronic signal processing by means of surface acoustic wave (SAW) devices has been widely adopted by the electronics industry. Such SAW devices can be designed to operate as analog electrical filters that operate over a wide range of frequencies and have several advantages over conventional technologies. One such advantage is that they can be designed to provide complex signal processing in a single unit. Surface acoustic wave devices also benefit from the ability to be mass produced using semiconductor microfabrication techniques which produce highly uniform devices at a substantially reduced cost. SAW devices can be easily integrated into many digital communications systems and designed to operate in high harmonic modes in the gigahertz (GHz) frequency range.
Proper operation and containment of the acoustic waves require precise construction. Existing surface acoustic wave device packaging has become well accepted in response to such requirements. Additionally, accurate and reliable performance of surface acoustic wave devices requires hermetic protection of the active surfaces of the devices. However, existing packaging practices often fails to fully and economically passivate the surface acoustic wave device active surface, thereby permitting particulate or contaminants to interfere with the active surface and render the performance of the SAW device inaccurate and unreliable. Such contamination concerns also exist with regard to other contact-sensitive electronic components, including other piezoelectric, pyroelectric, and micro-electromechanical (MEMS) applications.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a hermetic package for surface acoustic wave devices and other contact-sensitive electronic components, as well as a method of manufacturing such a hermetic package.
To address the above-discussed deficiencies of the prior art, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing a hermetic package. In one embodiment, the method includes: (1) forming a plurality of contact-sensitive electronic devices on a device substrate, each of the plurality of devices having an active surface, (2) providing a mounting substrate, (3) forming a grid of dam material between the device substrate and the mounting substrate that is pitched as a function of lateral dimensions of the plurality of devices, (4) bringing the device substrate and the mounting substrate together until the active surface of each of the plurality of devices is proximate, but spaced apart from, the mounting substrate, the mounting substrate and the dam material cooperating to form packages for the plurality of devices and (5) dicing the device substrate to separate the packages.
The foregoing has outlined, rather broadly, preferred features of the present invention so that those skilled in the art may better understand the detailed description of the invention that follows. Additional features of the invention will be described hereinafter that form the subject of the claims of the invention. Those skilled in the art should appreciate that they can readily use the disclosed conception and specific embodiment as a basis for designing or modifying other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. Those skilled in the art should also realize that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention in its broadest form.